There is a distinct difference between a “trend” and something that
has passed on into “mainstream”. But what is that difference? To answer
this question, one has to look at the definitions of the terms first and
then look behind the mere words to gain a valid interpretation.
Here’s what the Oxford Dictionaries say about the word trend: “a general direction in which something is developing or changing”.
And here’s what it says about mainstream: “the ideas, attitudes, or activities that are shared by most people and regarded as normal or conventional”.
This seems simple enough and only little further elaboration shall be
made on the mere words. Next to the literal meaning, these definitions
put the two terms into direct correlation to each other: while
mainstream is that which is “shared by most people”, a trend is
“developing” – it can be inferred that a trend always precedes
mainstream.
And in fact, the author could not recall a single case where
something or someone skipped the trend stage and went right from nothing
to everything. It’s simply unheard of.
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